A koala slumbered in a blue fig tree next to the hen house. Temps touched 36 degrees on Monday. It looked healthy and well nourished. Yesterday, it moved to higher ground behind the garden.

The resident snakes too have moved, one into the garden and another into the trees next to the cabin. Now the hens will have to be restricted. The third snake swallowed a cotton sheet that lay in the bottom of the hen’s laying nest. I had never witnessed a snake swallowing material before but as a couple of locals have seen the same thing I am no longer surprised. The snake remains digesting in the wood stove. Its colour has dulled and it is lethargic to what it was preceding its mistaken meal. I hope it recovers.